The building of a system of dykes and drains at an estimated cost of more than VND11.5 trillion (US$647 million) to protect HCM City and neighbouring Long An Province from floods and high tides is scheduled to begin this year.

The system was expected to prevent flooding from tides of between 0.5 to 1m and higher, deputy Agriculture and Rural Development Minister Dao Xuan Hoc told a meeting of representatives from various agencies last Saturday.

The official, who is also deputy chairman of the national Storm and Flood Control Steering Committee, said: "The dykes and drains will be designed so as not to affect the city’s image or disrupt traffic."

They would be in two sections.

The first would be built along the right banks of the Sai Gon and Nha Be rivers and the second at the junction of the Dong Nai and Sai Gon rivers.

The deputy minister said heavy rain; overflow from the Cuu Long (Mekong) Delta and high tides caused the city to flood.

Some believed pumps to lower water from canals would help absorb the overflow.

But pumps would not work because the city was too near the sea and the rise and fall of the tides – between 2.5-3.5m at their peak – was too great, he said.

Instead, the ministry planned to use the network of dyke and drains and use the fall of the tide to drain any rain water.

Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung approved the project in October last year and the money would be drawn from the State budget and official development assistance.

Low-lying precincts and districts such as 2, 6,7 and Thu Duc near the Sai Gon River are at high risk of flooding each wet season.

The highest flood-tide for 50 years submerged many parts of the city in late December last year.

Water at Nha Be Station was measured 1.52m while parts of Thu Duc Districts were submerged to depth of 0.5m.

VietNamNet/Viet Nam News